The proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene product is processed to produce a large number of biologically active peptides. Two of these peptides, alpha-adrenocorticotropic hormone (.alpha.MSH), and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) have well understood roles in control of melanocyte and adrenocortical function, respectively. Both of these hormones, however, are found in a variety of forms with unknown functions. The melanocortin peptides also have a diverse array of biological activities in other tissues, including the brain and immune system, and bind to specific receptors there with a distinct pharmacology [see, Hanneman et al., in Peptide Hormone as Prohormones, G. Martinez, ed. (Ellis Horwood Ltd.: Chichester, UK) pp. 53-82; DeWied & Jolles, 1982, Physiol. Rev. 62: 976-1059 for reviews].
A complete understanding of these peptides and their diverse biological activities requires the isolation and characterization of their corresponding receptors. Some biochemical studies have been reported on the prior art.
Oelofsen & Ramachandran, 1983, Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 225: 414-421 disclose receptor binding studies on ACTH receptors on rat adipocytes.
Mertz & Catt, 1991, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:8525-8529 disclose functional expression of ACTH receptors in Xenopus laevis oocytes following injection of total cellular RNA from adrenal tissue.
Moore et al., 1991, Endocrinology 34: 107-114 relates to Allgrove syndrome, an autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by ACTH insensitivity.
The present invention comprises a human adrenocorticotropic hormone receptor gene, the nucleotide sequence of this gene and the deduced amino acid sequence of its cognate protein, a homogeneous composition of the adrenocorticotropic hormone receptor, nucleic acid hybridization probes and a method for determining the tissue distribution of expression of the gene, a recombinant expression construct capable of expressing the gene in cultures of transformed eukaryotic cells, and such cultures of transformed eukaryotic cells useful in the characterization of novel and useful drugs. The present invention also comprises the bovine adrenocorticotropic hormone receptor gene.